In the morning when we wake up we take a shower because sleep is still with us. We need water to wake up, not cold water, just water, a physical, elemental thing which changes us, changes our state, taking us from a sleeping state to a waking state, relatively speaking. During the day there is a continuing obligation to wash, to use water for purification, for waking up because we tend to go to sleep while we are awake.
Sleep does not come only when we lie down in bed, sleep comes whenever we are entranced, sleep is a trance. We are in the sleeping state whenever we are hypnotized, when we are so attracted by something it overwhelms our senses, sleep comes when we take certain drugs which overwhelm us. That dazed state of torpor is sleep, the loss of our perceiving faculties in their highest forms means we are asleep. Now this implies we spend most of our life asleep; those of us who have traveled this path for a long time are aware when these faculties are awake, and we are also aware how short that time is. We know also that we travel this path to develop the ability which makes those faculties grow, which makes them more available, so that we deal with reality, we learn how to be awake in reality, not the things that put us to sleep.
One reason we gather together in groups is to wake up that experience, that wakefulness which gives us a sense of being attuned to reality. When we sit together, focusing pointedly without concern for the past, without concern for the future, without concern for anything in creation, focusing on the Creator, being in tune with the Creator, something astonishing happens, what we can call the floating room syndrome. Suddenly the space we are in, the small rooms we gather in, are outside time and space, they take on a different dimension, they take on the dimension of the absolute now, a dimension most of us have difficulty encountering and living in.
When we enter that dimension of the absolute now we are transfixed in the moment, we are aligned with the moment, not in the past or the future, but now, in this moment. It is rather like being with an excellent chiropractor when everything falls into place, when everything is clicked out of us, it all falls away, all the worries, the troubles and burdens, the scheming and difficulties of the world fall away. For that moment they have no impact and we have no need to react, we do not react, we just exist. We are in a moment which is aligned with now.
It seems that the alignment with now is a portal to another world, the world inspiration comes from, where words come which have no base in our own understanding, where words come which create situations and feelings we are unaccustomed to, the world which offers recognition of the soul, presenting everything we are unaccustomed to, everything different from our usual habits, everything we have not learned to do. This is the place inspiration comes from, the place grace comes from, it comes from being aligned with the truth and creating a space for it to come through. This is the place where angels can touch us. This place, this astonishing moment can sometimes appear to last a long time, and within that moment all the tuning forks have to be aligned, every vibration has to be consistent, and that is one reason why groups tend to whittle down in size. If one person has a sound which does not resonate correctly it dissolves the moment, dissolves a very sensitive, profound situation.
Why do we talk about cleanliness, why do we talk about appropriate behavior? When we align ourself with reality we have to be capable of acting as reality expects us to act, we have to interact with the truth and be confident of that interaction or the truth will not linger. It is not enough to go into the moment, we also have to be acceptable to the moment. This is the work of our lives, becoming acceptable to that moment when we find the truth. That moment might last a long time or only an instant, but that is all we need, to find it for one instant and be acceptable.
This is what appropriate conduct is about, what purity is about, what wakefulness is about. Then when that moment opens for us we can see it, we can be it, feel it, recognize it and surrender, we can give up our self, we can let the drop return to the ocean where the great effulgence of His grace overwhelms us and we become one with it. It is all One. When that moment is correct we are one, there is no separation, there is only the divine understanding of what is going on. There is no difference between ‘I’ and ‘you,’ there is only ‘we,’ ourself in conjunction with God, a conjunction which disappears, no longer necessary, there is only God. At that point words are unnecessary. Understand what we are striving for, understand the greatness of His glory, the immensity of His glory, and understand that He has made this glory accessible to us. It beckons us to come to Him, and so we need to set our intention directly, with knowledge of that place.
Christ on the cross has many meanings. One of the meanings suggests we are nailed to one spot in a glorious way, not as a sacrificial lamb but in a glorious way. We are nailed to that one spot now aligned with all the universes, there is no need for movement. The body is a shell finally nailed down so that the inner resonance can be aligned, we have finally nailed the body down, made it sit still, made it stand still, it can no longer interfere. We need to align ourself, we need to be very still.
There are many methods for learning to be still, but we also need to be pure because paradise is purity—if we are not pure we do not belong there. Can you imagine not belonging there? This is frightening, and it should be what frightens us, that we are not pure enough, we are not clean enough, that we have not washed often enough, have not prayed and resonated enough. This purity should be what we strive for so that when we come to those moments we are acceptable to reality.
We have to accept reality, we also have to be acceptable to reality. Striving for reality makes us acceptable to reality. We need to surrender the will which resists movement towards reality, surrender it, surrender the will to exist in this world, surrender it, understand what it takes to give it up and give it up. We can only hint at what it takes, yet we each know when we are clean, we know when we have no motives of self, when we are not driven by the things we think we want or need, we know when there is purity in our intention.
When we sit together we are practicing for paradise; by being truly acceptable to each other we can become acceptable to reality. We are given to each other to practice becoming acceptable to reality. All these things are gifts given by our Creator to be more like Him, to be acceptable to Him.
Certain people want to be in the state of the melting heart, they want to be in that state yet they are fearful if they do not know how the heart can melt. It is up to us to create an atmosphere where this process is easy, up to us to create places where people are comfortable enough to move towards truth, where they no longer feel they have to hold back. We are all caught in the small jails of our own making which we do not identify as jails, which we see as walls protecting us from each other and from the world. We need to understand how to let go of these things, how to unlock the gates so that we can proceed into the open space of reality. To do this requires tremendous love, and those who have had little love in their lives, those who have not been melted by love sometimes have difficulty accepting it, they are afraid of what motivates an offer of love.
We need to be without motive. If we have motives, if we have needs, if we have desires or expectations when we offer love it is not being given the right way, it is more like a carrot on a string. We need to give love without carrots, without strings, people need to know when we offer something it is not going to be pulled back, it is given freely. We should learn how to give freely. Charity is giving freely, giving our time, our warmth, our smile, giving our heart, our look, our kindness, our forgiveness, our reconciliation, our melting. Never withhold any of these things we should give as charity to each other.
Most of these acts of love or charity begin with the family. We have to love our children in a way that makes them feel loved and comfortable, that makes us feel loved and comfortable. We need to spread love which has no expectations, which lets others grow. Some things need to be spread around—we cannot hoard love, it does no good if it is hoarded. If we think we can possess this love, it will burn a hole in us.
By learning how to give and making this a big part of our life, we also allow ourself to receive. As we give from one side we are being given from the other, and the source which supplies us is without end. Think of the cornucopia as a manifestation of God’s abundance, we cannot take too much from it because it keeps giving. We need to be cornucopias, unafraid of giving, the more we give the more is given to us, the source which supplies us is without end.
Sages and saints are examples of this, they never hold onto anything, they just keep giving like a river with an endless source. Fear makes us think the source will be depleted, we are always reminded of the limits of our own resources, reminded we should be careful. There are no limits for God’s love, no limits for God’s grace, no limits for His glory. We must become conduits of that love, that grace and glory, let them flow through us without limit. If God wills, we will understand and become part of this great wealth which has no end. We can dispense this wealth with no limit, we can have the eyes to see that true wealth and then open the eyes of others. May we travel this road, this path, may we increase in purity and lose the motivations of self which separate us from each other.
